More than half of global COVID-19 deaths in the Americas: PAHO | Coronavirus Pandemic News

According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the overall number of cases of COVID-19 and deaths in the Americas have declined, but last week the region accounted for more than half of the world’s deaths from the disease. It was.

During Wednesday’s regular news briefing, PAHO director Carissa Etienne said Access inequality Healthcare and vaccines are primarily responsible.

“This is a clear sign that pandemic sacrifices in the Americas continue to devastate families and communities, even though some parts of our region have experienced some relief.” Etienne said.

In some Latin American countries where the pandemic ? has been particularly severely hit, there is not yet access to enough vaccines ? to fully vaccinate 3% of the population. @DirOPSPAHO # COVID-19 (New Coronavirus Infection)

-PAHO / WHO (@pahowho) July 7, 2021

According to PAHO statistics, a quarter of the people in the Americas are fully vaccinated, with at least 600 million doses. However, more than half of these doses are in the United States.

on the other hand 67% Although some adults in the United States have been vaccinated at least once, some countries, especially Central America, have not yet made significant progress in their vaccination campaigns.

“We need to celebrate that a country highly affected by the pandemic has been able to turn the tide, but we cannot turn a blind eye to the serious inequality in access to vaccines,” said Etienne.

Case numbers are increasing in El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and some parts of Guatemala, Etienne said. And Cuba has reported the most new cases since the onset of the pandemic.

Haiti, a country in turmoil after President Jovenel Moise Assassinated in his house, Later coronavirus cases have decreased slightly Persistent surge. According to Etienne, the country has not yet been vaccinated and the recent intensification of violence is further challenging the response to the pandemic.

According to PAHO, about 24 million doses have been given throughout the region through the COVAX sharing mechanism, but more dosing is needed.

“Millions of people in Latin America and the Caribbean still don’t know when they have the opportunity to be immunized,” she said.

is more than 600,000 people died More than any other country in the world from US COVID-19, according to aggregates maintained by Johns Hopkins University.. However, mortality has been steadily declining since the vaccination campaign made significant strides earlier this year.

On June 10, President Joe Biden announced that the United States would donate 500 million doses of Pfizer vaccine to the COVAX program for 92 low-income countries as well as the African Union. [Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters]

President Joe Biden’s administration has promised to share as demand for shots declines and international pressure to share doses increases. Millions of doses To countries around the world who need them.

last month Biden announced that the United States will donate 500 million doses of Pfizer vaccine to the COVAX program for 92 low-income countries as well as the African Union.

On Wednesday, White House spokesman Jen Psaki announced that he would allocate more doses in the area.

“Latin America shares more doses. On Thursday, one million Johnson & Johnson doses will be sent to Bolivia and one million Pfizer doses will be sent to Paraguay,” Psaki told reporters. ..

Workers on an airline in San Luis Tarpa, El Salvador, are unloading cargo of Moderna vaccine donated by the U.S. government under the COVAX scheme. [Secretaria de Prensa de La Presidencia/Handout via Reuters]

El Salvador received 1.5 million doses from the United States through COVAX this week, according to Etienne. She also praised Mexico for donating vaccines to Central American countries, including Honduras.

She added that COVAX is expected to receive an additional 60 million doses from the United States and more than 11 million doses from Japan, with a total of 143 million doses expected soon in the region. ..

“The vaccine we have at hand works very well and helps us overcome the pandemic,” Etienne said. “But only take this opportunity to address the challenges that have long hampered us, especially the prevailing inequality in access to health.”